Roku Unveils $50 Set-Top-on-a-Stick Like Google Chromecast, But with an Actual Remote

Roku is taking on Google’s Chromecast device with the launch of a version of its Streaming Stick that works with any HDTV to deliver access to Netflix, YouTube and 1,200 other Internet-delivered channels.

Roku’s Streaming Stick for HDMI, to begin shipping in April, is listed at $49.99 — $15 more than Google Chromecast. But unlike Google’s set-top-on-a-stick, which relies on smartphone or tablet apps to control content playback on TV, the Roku product has a separate remote control.

That said, the new HDMI-compatible Roku Streaming Stick can be controlled via free apps for Android and iOS devices, just like Chromecast, to browse and select channels to stream. The Roku stick also supports “casting” Netflix, YouTube and personal media from mobile devices to their TVs.

The new Roku Streaming Stick is actually the same form factor as the Roku Streaming Stick, which the company launched in 2012. But that product uses the Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) spec, which is not as widely supported on HDTVs as the standard HDMI interface. Still, the original stick is not going away, according to Anderson: In 2013, Roku certified 60 different TVs and other products from 14 partners and this year that will expand to 125 devices from 20 partners.

To date, Roku has sold around 8 million video-player devices in the U.S. According to Anderson, viewing among Roku users was up 70% in 2013 versus the year prior, to a total of 1.7 billion hours. The average Roku household spends about 13 hours per week using the devices, while the top 25% of users spends 36 hours with them.

With the launch of Roku’s HDMI Streaming Stick, the company is phasing out the Roku LT model. It will continue to offer the $50 Roku 1 set-top, the $80 Roku 2 set-top (which includes an audio jack in the remote) and the $100 Roku 3, which adds support for videogame apps.

The goal with the new Streaming Stick was to get it under a $50 price point. It rounds out Roku’s product lineup across traditional standalone players, stick-based devices, and Roku-based TVs, which are set to debut in the fall of 2014 from Chinese manufacturers TCL and Hisense. “This spreads us across the board,” Anderson said.

The new Roku Streaming Stick also will be available in Canada (for $59.99 Canadian), and in the U.K. and Republic of Ireland (for £49.99).

This is a genius idea by Roku, they took what they were already doing and peeked in the room of what Google Chromecast was doing and combined the two. Honestly I wasn’t sold on Roku, Apple TV or chrome cast, however this new device has sparked my interest in the system. Recently my wife was bugging me about get Netflix again and this just may be the move for us. It seems to be like it original editions with being very simply to use and very much streamlined. I think it’s an absolutely relevant to the technology and digital life that we all are engulfed in these days.